LITTLE ROCK, AR -- The Arkansas Vending Council will hold its annual membership meeting and conference on Feb. 20 and 21 (Wednesday and Thursday) at the Wyndham Riverfront hotel here. The event will feature a Legislative Day Caravan on Thursday, at which members will have the opportunity to meet or reconnect with their elected officials.

The confab will lead off at 2 p.m. with a goody bag assembly function to prepare packets of vendible products for presentation during the Caravan; members are encouraged to participate in this important task. At 4 p.m., National Automatic Merchandising Association regional legislative director Sheree Edwards will lead a seminar on conducting effective conversations with legislators. A hospitality suite hosted by legislative counsel DBH Management Consulting's Bruce Hawkins and Camie Boggess will open at 6:30 p.m.

Thursday's schedule gets off to an early start with a breakfast buffet from 6:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. The Caravan gets under way at 7:15 a.m., and returns at noon. Lunch is planned for noon to 1 p.m., and the council hopes that a legislator or two will be able to participate.

The annual business meeting and election of officers and directors will take place from 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Legislative reports by DBH Management on state legal and regulatory issues of concern to the industry, and by NAMA's Sherree Edwards on the legislative and regulatory situation at the federal level, will follow.

The conference will conclude with a presentation at 3 p.m. by vending veteran Tom Britten, Britten Management Services LLC (Zephyrhills, FL) on contracts from a business perspective. The well-known consultant will explain the nature and value of contracts, consider the various types of contract and their applications in vending, explore ways to obtain them and discuss the manner in which a contract can help (or hurt) an operation.